Attack in Kirkuk also wounds 27, authorities say

Below:

Next story in Conflict in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A suicide car bomber struck the funeral of a Shiite soldier in the northern city of Kirkuk on Thursday, killing four people and wounding 27, authorities said.

The attacker drove his car into the tent where the funeral was being held. Police Sgt. Mohammed Khoshit and hospital officials said four people were killed and 27 were wounded, lowering an earlier police report that as many as 17 people had died.

Deputy police commander Turhan Abdul Rahman said the bomber, who died in the attack, targeted a funeral for an Iraqi soldier killed two days ago.

All the victims but one policeman were civilians, police said. There was also a policeman among the wounded.

The oil-rich city of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, is an ethnically mixed city claimed by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen that has seen violence in the past.